Infogrames taking Atari private?

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Mar 6, 2008 5:39 pm PT

Parent of troubled Alone in the Dark publisher makes offer to buy back all publicly held stock for $1.68.

It has been a busy week for Atari. On Monday, the New York-based publisher made headlines when its parent company, French publisher Infogrames SA, announced it had hired former Sony Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison to be its president and director general. While rumored, the move came as a shock, given Atari's dire financial straits.

As the West Coast business day wound down on Thursday, Atari surprised the industry again. The Alone in the Dark publisher announced that it had "received a letter from Infogrames Entertainment SA, Atari, Inc.'s majority shareholder, regarding IESA's non-binding expression of intent to acquire the outstanding common stock of Atari, Inc. not owned by IESA and its affiliates." The offer would pay owners of the stock a $0.02 premium on the $1.66 price it closed at on the NASDAQ market on Thursday.

If successful, Infogrames' move would spare Atari the ignominy of being delisted from the NASDAQ, which it has been repeatedly threatened with. It would also take the company private, allowing major, company-wide decisions to be made more quickly and easily than in a publicly traded entity.

However, while the buyout is likely to be approved by Atari's board, given the fact that Infogrames essentially controls the company, it is not guaranteed. "The offer is non-binding and there is no assurance that any transaction will occur," Atari warned in a statement.

49 Comments

  • SKaREO

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 4:42 am PT

    If there's a good time to dump your shares, now is the time.

  • ghost867

    Posted Mar 8, 2008 1:35 pm PT

    Hmm. Well hopefully the Atari name has a huge turn around. If it does, you can't even sit there and not give credit to Phil. Atari wouldn't turn itself around in a huge way unless there was somebody working with them. I think Phil can do it. He's done a lot for Sony, a lot more hands on stuff then most people realize.

    So what have Atari got lined up for the future anyway? Besides Alone in the Dark (360/PS3/PC/PS2/Wii), what's out there? Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (360/PS3), N+ (PSP/DS), Field Ops (PC), Driver 5 (PS3), Dungeons & Dragons Online: Forsaken Land (PC)? There's really not much out there. I hope Phil can turn this place around, but they're gonna need a damn miracle for it to work out.

    It's not like that had much last year either, but it's a lot better then what they have lined up for this year.

  • sniper-show

    Posted Mar 8, 2008 12:23 pm PT

    i cannot belle thid S&&T

  • taurian0205

    Posted Mar 8, 2008 7:45 am PT

    lol~

  • ULTIMATEZWARRIO

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 5:55 pm PT

    hopefully this will make them real that his is what happends you make half-@$$ games

  • runstalker

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 1:10 pm PT

    They have no choice. They're on the very brink of being forcibly delisted by the NASDAQ. When that happens to a company it's a huge turn-off for investors current and future, and a costly endeavor to turn the company's fortunes around fast enough to meet the NASDAQ's grace period on fees. This way they can retreat to private holding, release a tiny line-up of sure bets, and a couple of quarters later they'll re-offer and tier stock back to public trading.

  • ADPJFC

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 11:21 am PT

    @lowkey254: you forget that this isnt the same Atari as the Atari console days, this is just the shadow of that Atari, just the name, that's all. This is just whats left of GT Interactive.

  • sophospeare

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 11:17 am PT

    @ thextreme1
    That's exactly the reason Atari might be delisted. Their entire future depends on the success of a game that may, despite being potentially good, fail. Just think about how many great games have not done well financially (Psychonauts, anyone). If AITD fails, Atari really doesn't have a whole lot left to stand on. I admit, it's a gamble to sellout now on both parties' ends, but doing so now is the less risky approach and with all the risks that have backfired at Atari, I certainly understand it.

  • lowkey254

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 10:33 am PT

    @chrisda Atari is the grandfather of all games. back in their console days you really couldn't tell what was terrible because it was only them and like one other company that had gone out of business. I agree that I wouldn't buy their stock right now but the rest of your comment is just garbage.

  • chrisda

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 9:54 am PT

    i would never buy atari stock, in my view, atari was never good, atari games are terrible, every since their console days

  • thextreme1

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 9:43 am PT

    This sucks. I was actually going to buy $20,000 worth of Atari stock this summer after the announcement that they brought Phil Harrison on board because I knew it would mean a big turnaround for the company.

    Totally bogus deal for Atari stock holders. I dont understand how they think the stock would be delisted, it would have to go under that $1 mark and with Alone In The Dark coming in a few short months, I dont see how it could ever go back below $1. I imagine that AITD is going to be huge.

  • zeus_gb

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 9:09 am PT

    Hopefully Phil can turn Atari around and get them releasing decent games again.

  • Avenger1324

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 8:55 am PT

    maybe this is cheaper for Infogrames than simply closing Atari down? Rather than deal with legal challenges and trying to sell off franchises and past licenses.

  • jazilla

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 8:49 am PT

    Atari is looking to revolutionize the gaming industry again. Phil Harrison would never have taken that job if he hadn't seen real potential there. The slumbering giant is going to awaken again and take the gaming world by storm. If they have plans on internet gaming, watch out. With Phil at the helm there will be a lot of major things happening.

  • Hvac0120

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 8:47 am PT

    Wait a minute...Phil Harrison has moved to Atari? I sure did miss something there!!!

  • joey4uncw

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 8:40 am PT

    Sounds like a good opportunity for Atari short their having a uber secret game that is just days away from an unknown debut that will break all records. So like I was saying it sounds like a good thing for Atari.

  • dadoesch

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 8:36 am PT

    I like it. Get a new head who has a lot of successful experience and privatize the company so that he can be given more efficient control over it. He could remodel Atari's business structure and breathe new life into it. It will take some time and work, but if the interest and talent is there, they can do it. It would be nice to see Atari rise again (even if it's not really the same company it was in the 80s).

  • Ravi_1900

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 8:36 am PT

    Good there was no reason for them to be public, it was not helping them anyways and most of their products are not very appealing.

  • xgalacticax

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 8:03 am PT

    Riiiiiiight! Hope it works out for em.

  • OfficialBed

    Posted Mar 7, 2008 7:51 am PT

    ...ok

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